Since the positions of President and Vice President were vacant, the meeting was called to order by Treasurer Bob Messenger at approximately 4:00 p.m. Present were Clerk Brian Mottershead and Directors Stephen Dann, Alex Relyea and George Mirijanian and guests Ken Ballou and Nita Patel.

MOTION 0111-1: George Mirijanian and Brian Mottershead were nominated to fill the vacancy as President. Mr. Mirijanian was appointed on a vote by secret ballot.

At the request of Mr. Mottershead, and by unanimous consent, the agenda was changed to vote on filling the vacancy for Scholastic Chair.

MOTION 0111-2: Brian Mottershead and Steve Frymer were nominated to fill the vacancy as chair of the Scholastic Committee. Mr. Mottershead was appointed on a vote by secret ballot.

MOTION 0111-3: Stephen Dann and Steve Frymer were nominated to fill the vacancy as Vice President. Mr. Frymer was appointed on a vote by secret ballot.

MOTION 0111-4: Bob Messenger was nominated to fill the vacancy as chair of the Tournament Committee. Mr. Messenger was appointed by a unanimous vote.

MOTION 0111-5: Mr. Messenger nominated Ken Belt to fill the vacancy as chair of the Elections Commission. Mr. Belt was appointed by a unanimous vote.

The board approved the minutes of the September (as amended) and December board meetings.

Mr. Messenger presented the Treasurer report. There was net income in December of $3,927.78 in the General Fund and $4,330.43 overall, with total fund balances of $51,811.58. The Living Memorial Chess Fund Benefit Tournament held on January 2nd in Sharon brought in a total of $472.00 for the LMCF.

MOTION 0111-6: Motion to authorize the Clerk to spend up to $50 for an award to Jordan Shapiro in thanks for his organizing the LMCF Benefit tournament (Mottershead/?). PASSED without dissent.

Mr. Messenger presented the Membership Secretary’s report. There were 735 members, 593 people receiving Chess Horizons, and 1069 people with current expiration dates in the database.

Mr. Messenger presented the Tournament Committee report. Since committee chair (and MACA President) Ken Ballou had resigned in December no action had been taken on organizing adult tournaments. The committee would start work on organizing the Massachusetts Game/60 Championship and the Massachusetts Open.

MOTION 0111-7: The Executive Board thanks Ken Ballou for his years of service to MACA (Messenger/?). PASSED without dissent.

Mr. Mottershead presented the Scholastic Committee report. The 4th Qualifier would be held on January 9th at the Holiday Inn Select in Woburn, and the Holiday Team Challenge would be held on January 23rd at the Holiday Inn in Boxborough.

Mr. Messenger presented the Publications Committee report. The January-March issue of Chess Horizons was late because several contributors had not submitted articles which they had promised.

In the absence of LMCF Coordinator Steve Frymer there was no report on the Living Memorial Chess Fund.

Old Business

Mr. Messenger’s proposed amendment to Section 4.14 (Action by Writing) to allow email voting was postponed to the February meeting.

New Business

MOTION 0111-8: Move to adopt a standing rule that, unless otherwise specified by the Executive Board, committee chairs shall be authorized to appoint members to their committee or remove members that were appointed by the chair. This rule does not apply to the Elections Commission. Committee chairs shall notify the board of change to the composition of their committees (Messenger/?). PASSED as amended.

The next board meeting would be held February 13th at a time and location determined by the president.